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Rick's List
U.S. Soldiers Accused of Killing Civilians; California Senate Race Heats Up
Aired September 27, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: A story of soldiers that are allegedly wayward and another story that we are going to bring you about Ingrid Betancourt, wait until you see both of these right here on RICK'S LIST.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): It's prime time. Here is what is making this special edition of RICK'S LIST.
She was a presidential candidate kidnapped and kept in the jungle for more than six years, her escape attempts, her abuse. Ingrid Betancourt breaks her silence with me on RICK'S LIST.
You will hear the damning evidence against soldiers accused of being high on drugs in Afghanistan and killing civilians for sport, the reality of war now on trial, you will see it here.
On our political list, who's up, who's down in the polls, California, New York, Kentucky?
And Stephen Colbert vs. Rick Sanchez. Wait, that's me. Game on.
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list.
Pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we begin tonight with a special report. This is a story that is by no means a reflection of the brave men and the women who serve our country honorably. It is, though, a black eye that our military is dealing with up front and as transparently as they possibly can with an extensive investigation.
This is about a rogue band of American soldiers accused of smoking hash at night and killing for sport by day. The atrocities that they are accused of committing are reprehensible. What you are about to see is a RICK'S LIST special report.
The correspondent is Drew Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the tapes obtained by CNN, the soldiers accused, in their own words, are not denying anything, but trying to explain how highly-trained soldiers could become a band of killers.
JEREMY MORLOCK, U.S. ARMY: And so we identified a guy. Like, you know, Gibbs -- Gibbs is telling it, like, hey, you guys want to wax this guy or what? And, you know, he would set it up. Like, he grabbed a dude.
GRIFFIN: Corporal Jeremy Morlock, accused of killing three civilian Afghan men, two by shooting. The third, which is described to a military investigator, was literally a setup, he says, by his platoon leader, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what did he do? Explain everything.
MORLOCK: We had this guy by this compound, and so Gibbs, you know, walked him out and set him in place, like "Hey, stand here."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he was fully cooperating?
MORLOCK: I mean, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he armed?
MORLOCK: No, not that we were aware of.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where did he stand him? Next to a wall?
MORLOCK: Yes, it was kind of next to a wall. It was where Gibbs could get like behind cover after the grenade went off. And then he kind of placed (NAME DELETED) off over here where we had a clean line of sight for this guy. And, you know, he pulled out one of his grenades, American grenade, you know, popped it, throws the grenade, and then tells me and (NAME DELETED) "All right dude, you know, wax this guy." Kill this guy, kill this guy.
GRIFFIN: Morlock goes on to describe two more killings, unarmed Afghan civilians picked out, stood up, shot and then blown up with a grenade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see him present any weapons or did he -- was he aggressive at you at all? Did he --
MORLOCK: No, not at all. Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MORLOCK: He wasn't a threat.
GRIFFIN: Michael Waddington is Corporate Jeremy Morlock's civilian attorney. (on camera): I want you to tell me that this didn't happen, that this isn't true. Can you?
MICHAEL WADDINGTON, MORLOCK'S ATTORNEY: That three people were not killed?
GRIFFIN: That members of the U.S. military didn't go out and three Afghan civilians were killed for sport.
WADDINGTON: You have the you have the from what I understand, the case file. I mean, you know what the witnesses in that file say and what they say in their in their videos. But I that's what it sounds like.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): To defend his client, Mike Waddington will try to prove Corporal Morlock, already injured in two separate IED attacks, was suffering from brain damage, and, instead of treating him, Waddington says the Army drugged him.
(on camera): So your defense is that your client was mentally incapacitated and that the Army either knew it or should have known it, and he should not have been put in that position.
(CROSSTALK)
WADDINGTON: The Army knew it because they were prescribing drugs to him to try to treat his symptoms. His symptoms involved nausea, vomiting, inability to sleep. These are injuries that are common in traumatic brain injury. The Army knew that he had been blown up in two IED attacks. The Army then chose, rather than to treat him, to take his weapon, give it back to him, because -- for whatever reason, and then load him up on drugs.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The drugs, shown here districted in plastic baggies, included Ambien and amitriptyline, both of which carry FDA warnings about producing suicidal thoughts. The trouble began, Morlock says, in November of 2009, when the Stryker brigade got a new squad leader, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs.
WADDINGTON: When Gibbs showed up at this unit, he bragged to the young soldiers underneath him, including my client, about killing innocent people in Iraq.
GRIFFIN: Staff Sergeant Gibbs is charged in all three killings and witnesses stated it was this new commander who orchestrated, coerced and threatened the Stryker brigade to both kill Afghan civilians and cover up their murders.
And there is something else. The U.S. Army accuses Staff Sergeant Gibbs of collecting teeth, leg bones and fingers as souvenirs.
(on camera): Did your client see those fingers? He says he did.
WADDINGTON: According to the statement, he did see that happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Sergeant Gibbs' attorney did not return CNN's calls, but according to another soldier who reported to Gibbs, the staff sergeant had a ready stash of guns and other items that could be planted on murder victims after they were killed.
If you think the Afghans were the only ones fearing for their lives, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORLOCK: If Gibbs knew that I was sitting in front of this camera right now, there's no doubt in my mind that he (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He'd take me out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: When we come back, we will tell you about the alleged cover-up.
Also ahead on our LIST: the woman who spent more than six years in the jungle tied up with chains around her neck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRID BETANCOURT, HELD HOSTAGE OVER SIX YEARS: I didn't want them to transform me in kind of a beast or an animal full of revenge. And I wanted to be -- I wanted to be something that I could -- when looking back of all of this, I wanted to just feel serene and in peace with what I have been in the jungle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: What a story she tells of escape attempts that include piranhas and anacondas and crocodiles and even abuse.
That's ahead right here on RICK'S LIST. Stay with us. We're live tonight from New York.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We are live from New York on this night. You just saw part one of a RICK'S LIST special report describing horrific acts allegedly carried out by a few U.S. soldiers against unarmed Afghan civilians.
But here's the question. Why is the Army accusing Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs of ordering his men to kill those innocent civilians and then cover up the crimes? And did he turn on some of his own men?
Here again, investigative reporter Drew Griffin with part two of this case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GRIFFIN (voice-over): Specialist Adam Kelly served under Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. In the tape of his interrogation obtained by CNN, Kelly describes the ready stash of non-U.S.-issued guns and hand grenades that were to be planted on murder victims. Specialist Kelly is not charged with murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you guys kept your on-hand stuff; it was never touched; everything that you threw tended to be off the books, so you didn't have to worry about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, the off-the-books stuff was like his (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
GRIFFIN: Corporal Jeremy Morlock told Army interrogators fellow soldiers feared Gibbs, feared retaliation, even for their lives, if they didn't carry out the killings he ordered.
MORLOCK: If Gibbs knew that I was sitting in front of this camera right now, there's no doubt in my mind that he (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He'd take me out if he had to. Even if it was too late, even if I had pictures of him doing illegal stuff, he wouldn't care, because, in his mind, he will spend the rest of his life in jail as long as he knows he got his.
GRIFFIN: Corporal Emmitt Quintal is charged in five counts of drug abuse, possession of pictures of dead bodies and of beating a soldier who was trying to warn the Army what was going on. He says the boredom and the stress pushed this platoon to escape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long did the drug use in the unit continue?
CORPORAL EMMITT QUINTAL, U.S. ARMY: The smoking hashish?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hashish, yes.
QUINTAL: Probably up until about a week-and-a-half ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way from the beginning of deployment until now?
QUINTAL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prominently? I mean, was it around consistently or what?
QUINTAL: Bad days, stressful days, days that we just needed an escape.
GRIFFIN: CNN has placed several calls to attorneys representing soldiers Emmitt Quintal and Adam Kelly, calls not returned. According to the soldiers' taped interviews, the drugs came from locals who laced hash with opium.
Other soldiers admitted to abusing prescription pills. Corporal Morlock's attorney, Michael Waddington, says the drug use was daily, rampant and obvious.
(on camera): This paints a picture of U.S. Army soldiers smoking hash at night, killing Afghans by day. How is it possible that if this is true, that nobody knew in authority, nobody put a stop to it?
WADDINGTON: That's impossible, that nobody knew. On the ground, if you have a bunch of soldiers walking around with brain injury that are drugged up by prescription painkillers and narcotics, and smoking hash and opium on daily basis, you would be able to know it instantly, if you have any common sense.
GRIFFIN: One soldier did apparently try to warn superiors. That soldier is not charged.
Corporal Quintal tells investigators that, on May 4, the platoon, under the direct of Staff Sergeant Gibbs, went to the barracks of the man they believe was a snitch, a narc, and beat him up.
QUINTAL: He was asked. He wouldn't tell us he narced or why or anything. Pretty much everybody just kind of striking...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where he was sitting before you pulled him off the bed?
QUINTAL: On his cot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.
QUINTAL: Right. And then we pulled him on the floor. I did strike the stoner twice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did everybody take part in it?
QUINTAL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gibbs sat down casually and told (NAME DELETED) that if he snitched again, he would kill him and that he has killed people before and he has no problems killing again.
At that time, Staff Sergeant Gibbs had a cloth. He opened it and dropped it. And three human body fingers fell onto the floor, the ground. At that point, I kind of lost my head.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Drew Griffin reporting for us tonight.
I should tell you the Pentagon did not respond directly to CNN's request for an interview or information on the ongoing investigation.
Instead, we were sent a statement from the Army reading "The Army does not publicly release evidence in ongoing investigations. Disclosure of the video recordings to the public at this juncture is troubling because it could adversely affect the fair and just administration of the military justice process."
Pretrial investigation hearings for five soldiers are scheduled in the next several -- in the next several weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETANCOURT: We are going to die from something. It could be a snake. It could be a tree falling on top of us, or it could be a bullet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Ingrid Betancourt spent more than six years as a hostage in the Colombian jungle. How did she survive being tortured by her captors and under the threat of jungle creatures? You're going to want to hear her harrowing story. It's ahead.
And is Rand Paul, Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul, up or down in the Kentucky polls these days? You may be surprised by the latest dip in numbers there. The political list is next on RICK'S LIST. More news, less bloviating.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez coming to you from New York today.
There is something going on in Kentucky with Rand Paul. And is where we begin tonight's political list with number five.
Rand Paul's lead in the Kentucky Senate race has shrunk to two points. He is up 49 percent to 47 percent over Democrat Jack Conway. Just three weeks ago, Paul was up by 15 points. What happened?
Well, here's what happened, according to Survey USA. Kentucky women are breaking toward Conway. At the same time, Paul is losing support among the state's wealthiest voters. Our own polling confirms this race is now, in fact, neck and neck.
Here is number four. New York Governor David Paterson finally gets even for being the butt of all those jokes on "Saturday Night Live." Here he is this weekend saying his job as New York governor is a lot like watching "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
GOV. DAVID PATERSON (D), NEW YORK: There are a lot of characters, it's funny for 10 minutes, and then you just want it to be over.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, governor, we are really sorry.
PATERSON: Sorry? You should be sorry. You have poked so much fun at me for being governor, that I forgot that I was black.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Here now, political story number three.
Tonight, a gift-wrapped package for the Tea Party favorite, Carl Paladino. The guy he upset for the Republican nomination has dropped his third-party bid. That now means it's a two-way race for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Here now, political story number two.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They say they want to balance the budget. They propose $4 trillion worth of tax cuts and $16 billion in spending cuts, and then they say we are going to somehow magically balance the budget. That's not a serious approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The president's new critique of the GOP, tonight, he is taking it on the road, four states in two days. As we speak, he is on the way to New Mexico, then Wisconsin, then, we are told, Iowa and Virginia.
His Democratic Party is down to five weeks to try and pull out the midterm elections.
So, what's the number-one story on the political list on this night? Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, BARBARA BOXER CAMPAIGN AD)
NARRATOR: As the CEO of H.P., Carly Fiorina laid off 30,000 workers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: California's Senate candidates are taking aim at each other with some ads you have got to see. It has gotten so ugly, one newspaper is refusing to endorse either candidate. That's next.
Also ahead, held captive for six years in the jungle, surrounded by men with huge guns and all the dangerous and nasty creatures that nature also to offer. Would you be able to survive? I'm going to sit down with a woman who did just that.
You're watching the LIST, where, unlike the other guys, we don't tell you how or what to think.
I'm Rick Sanchez. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: What you're about to see may be one of the most devastating ads so far this political season. It is running in California. It is an ad that is being run by Senator Barbara Boxer in her reelection bid against Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chairman -- chairwoman, I should say. This is the number-one story on tonight's political list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, BARBARA BOXER CAMPAIGN AD)
NARRATOR: As the CEO of H.P., Carly Fiorina laid off 30,000 workers.
CARLY FIORINA (R), CALIFORNIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: When you're talking about massive layoffs, which we did, perhaps the work needs to be done somewhere else.
NARRATOR: Fiorina shipped jobs to China. And while Californians lost their jobs, Fiorina tripled her salary, bought a million-dollar yacht and four corporate jets.
FIORINA: I'm proud of what I did at H.P.
NARRATOR: Carly Fiorina, outsourcing jobs, out for herself.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: I'm Barbara Boxer, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Since releasing that ad, Barbara Boxer has opened up a lead in what was a very tight race. Tonight, a poll by "The L.A. Times" shows Boxer is leading now Fiorina by eight percentage points, 51 percent to 43 percent.
But, now, I want you to take a look at this. This is "The San Francisco Chronicle," which leans as left as Boxer -- quote -- "Boxer would not rate on anyone's list of most influential senators. Her most famous moments on Capitol Hill have not been ones of legislative accomplishment, but of delivering partisan shots."
And with that, "The San Francisco Chronicle" is refusing Barbara Boxer its endorsement. In fact, it is endorsing no one.
She is one of the world's most famous hostages, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, held by Colombian terrorists for more than six years. Her kidnapping received international attention.
This video taken by her captors seen all around the world, it led to a massive campaign for her release. She was eventually rescued by helicopter by the Colombian Army in a daring fake-out of the FARC. She writes about her harrowing life in captivity in a brand-new book.
It's called "Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Ingrid Betancourt is good enough to join us now.
How are you?
BETANCOURT: So fine to be with you today.
SANCHEZ: It's fantastic
Let's start at the beginning. When you were taken hostage, as I read through the book, did you know what was going on? Did you know at that moment that you were a hostage?
BETANCOURT: Well, I had a moment of very deep anguish, because I thought they were going to kill me, because it had happened before.
And it came to the moment where they separated me from the group I was. And that was the procedure to shoot the person and leave it in the road. So I thought it was going to happen to me. But God was there.
SANCHEZ: Do you feel like the -- like your hijacking, your kidnapping occurred because the Colombian government either, A., dropped the ball, or B., wanted you to be kidnapped?
BETANCOURT: No.
I think it was a sad sequence of events. The thing is that they withdraw my -- my bodyguards just before me taking the road to go to San Vicente. And it was on that road that the guerrilla made a checkpoint. And they got me there.
SANCHEZ: You are tough. You are -- you are resilient. You're stubborn. You are the kind of woman who doesn't care what's going on around her. You decided you were going to escape. And you tried to escape.
BETANCOURT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You got in people's faces. You told people to go to hell. You had people with rifles and guns pointed at your face. And you defied them.
BETANCOURT: I was pretty scared when I was there.
And, sometimes, when there was -- I mean, there were moments that I felt I wasn't the hero type I wanted to be. I just was sometimes very fragile and shaken by everything. But, sometimes, I did react. Sometimes, I did just -- when they touch this very sensible chord, especially like...
SANCHEZ: When they killed the little monkey...
BETANCOURT: Oh, my gosh.
SANCHEZ: ... that made you mad? BETANCOURT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: It's like here you are stuck in a judge and a baby monkey is fed to dogs. And it made you furious.
BETANCOURT: Yes.
I just hated them for that, because, you see, it wasn't a little monkey. I mean, it was a little -- how do you say? I had a relationship with that little monkey.
SANCHEZ: Christina (ph)?
BETANCOURT: Christina. Christina.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BETANCOURT: And I think that was stupid do that. They didn't need to do that.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you something. When you decide that you're going to escape the second time, I believe...
BETANCOURT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... and you are floating down some river, and the rains come, and, suddenly, a caiman, what the United States, we tend to call either a crocodile or an alligator, eats some giant animal, and you're floating down this river.
Did you start thinking, well, I'm going from the frying pan into the fire; I got away from the guerrilla, but I'm in a jungle where there are giant anacondas, giant alligators or crocodiles or caimans, and a lot of other things that can eat you, like jaguars?
BETANCOURT: Yes, of course I was scared.
But, at the same time, I had this discussion with one of the guerrillas, one of the guards. And it was a moment where we had seen this huge snake. I mean, when I say huge, I have seen, you know, in the "Guinness" books, like the huge...
(CROSSTALK)
BETANCOURT: No, this was bigger. It was enormous.
SANCHEZ: I -- I don't want to embarrass you, but because you write about it in the book and it stuck in my head and I guess a lot of women out there can relate to this, you find yourself in waters filled with piranhas that react to blood and you were menstruating.
BETANCOURT: Yes. Yes. That was kind of --
SANCHEZ: You're thinking I can become nothing but bones out here. BETANCOURT: Yes. Yes. And -- well, of course, it would happen every time it happened and I had to go bathing in the river and I had these nasty little things just coming up to me and I had to, you know? But then when I was escaping and that happened -- I thought that I was in trouble in a way, you know?
SANCHEZ: You are mostly surrounded by men, guards. Some of them are not very nice and they certainly aren't delicate to women's needs.
BETANCOURT: Oh, they were horrible. They were just horrible and very machos. So, every time I needed something, like women-like, they would just, you know, have this attitude like, we're going to give you something but you have to spare the things. You cannot throw those things away. You -- I mean, always gaining the lesson, it was very humiliating.
SANCHEZ: Sexist?
BETANCOURT: Very sexist. Oh, my God, the FARC guys are very, very macho brought up.
SANCHEZ: Did they abuse you?
BETANCOURT: In many ways, yes. I think we -- they abuse everybody. I mean, it's -- once, you know, it's like the human nature, once you are in a place where you have this power of killing somebody and you have no law and no witness and nobody is looking at what you're doing, then the very cruel, sadistic part of yourself comes up and you can be very mean -- very, very mean.
SANCHEZ: Did you ever think -- you write about this in the book, "I'm never going to get out of here"?
BETANCOURT: Oh, yes, I thought about that. I thought -- I came to the moment, I was very sick, I had no medication and I was in pain. My body was just -- you know, center of pain and I thought, maybe the best for me now is to die, it will be a liberation. And I just had the impression that that could be a good moment to die, you know, like my children are going to know, they are going to begin their lives. I cannot just have them paralyzed because of waiting for me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Six and a half years in the jungle chained by her neck and most of it.
When we come back, how did she get along with some of the others who were there kidnapped? She wasn't the only one.
Also, then her rescue, one of the greatest deceptions that's ever been pulled off by any military. This is Ingrid Betancourt's story and it continues.
Also ahead, Stephen Colbert has issued me a challenge. And tonight, I'm going to respond to that challenge and he's not going to want to miss this. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We are speaking tonight with Ingrid Betancourt, held for unbelievable six and a half years in the Colombian jungle. She was a young, attractive candidate for president of Colombia when she was suddenly taken hostage by rebels.
Since her release, some of her fellow captives, including three Americans, say she is not the person that she portrays herself as. I asked her about this as well. Here is part two of Ingrid's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: If you could, if somebody set it up, would you be willing to sit down and have a moment with them, where you all come together and can talk it out, even if it includes tears?
BETANCOURT: Oh, yes. Of course.
SANCHEZ: But it would involve a lot of hurt because you'd have to go through the things that happen back then, wouldn't you?
BETANCOURT: Yes. But, you know, I think that it will come to a point in our lives where that will happen. And for me, we live in a mud, you know?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BETANCOURT: In an emotional mud. And we were not heroes we wanted to be, none of us. But this that mud, there were diamonds -- diamonds -- moments of solidarity, of friendship, of love, and I prefer to get those diamonds than just think of the mud.
SANCHEZ: Finally, let's talk be about the end, when suddenly, these humanitarian guys get off a helicopter, supposedly there with some organization that are doing something, you think they are all bad, think they're going to take you away to another camp. You can't stand them. And, suddenly, you are in the helicopter and something changes. Take us through that.
BETANCOURT: We were in the helicopter and we were all very gloomy because we were convinced we were heading for 10 more years of abduction. We thought if they are going to move us to another camp in a helicopter, it's going to be forever now. And the crew that came, this humanitarian men --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BETANCOURT: -- the leader of the crew, happened in a second they neutralized the two guerilla commanders that had been coming in the helicopter with us and here the guy is, like half-naked, in my feet, handcuff, and I was, oh, my God, what's happening? It took me a moment to just figure out what happened. And then the guy screamed, but he really screamed.
SANCHEZ: This is the --
BETANCOURT: There were huge guns --
SANCHEZ: The guy who was pretending to be the top humanitarian guy. He was actually a Colombian lieutenant or something.
BETANCOURT: Exactly. It's a major. And he was a big, big strong guy. And then he shouted in this helicopter because there was the motor and the noise, it was -- he shouted, "We are the Colombian army. You are free."
SANCHEZ: Oh, my God.
BETANCOURT: And it was -- I mean, I remember that moment, I began screaming, but it was a scream like an animal's scream. And I couldn't just hold it. I mean, I was thinking, I'm so stupid, I'm screaming. I had to just stop screaming and I couldn't stop screaming.
And then when I stopped, I realized everybody was doing the same thing. Everybody was screaming, shouting, jumping. We were -- I mean, it was -- you know, a kind of non-control reaction for -- yes, it was -- it was --
SANCHEZ: Didn't you have a tendency to want to say I can't believe this?
BETANCOURT: Of course.
SANCHEZ: It's just like (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
BETANCOURT: The scream was --
SANCHEZ: Yes. Like this has to be (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
BETANCOURT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Somebody, this is another trick?
BETANCOURT: But wait and then the fear, because once you're realizing that you're free -- wow, you're so scared of freedom. What's freedom now? What's going to be my life?
SANCHEZ: You survived anacondas, jaguars, piranhas, crocodiles, guys with knives and guns on you, you were tied to a tree with a chain and now, you are in a helicopter and you are worried about it crashing?
BETANCOURT: Yes, because I thought it's too good to be true. Nothing, nothing --
SANCHEZ: What can't I conquer now?
BETANCOURT: Yes, now, whatever comes is good. SANCHEZ: Living in the jungle for six and a half years in captivity, tied to a tree with a chain around my neck -- yes, you survived.
BETANCOURT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You feel good?
BETANCOURT: Oh, yes. Yes. And I'm -- I have a deep gratitude for God.
SANCHEZ: It's a great story. Even silence has an end. Ingrid Betancourt, thanks. Appreciate it.
BETANCOURT: Thank you, Rick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Remarkable woman, one hell of a story.
Ahead, who's making the list that you don't want to be on tonight and why? Stephen Colbert? No! We wouldn't. Would we?
Next, what happens inside a plane during a crash landing? You're about to find out from the inside.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, guess who has been holding down the fort down in Atlanta? It's Brooke Baldwin.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I do what I can.
SANCHEZ: You did a fantastic job -- let me tell you -- today at 3:00 and 4:00 while I was interviewing Ingrid Betancourt. Wasn't she a fascinating woman?
BALDWIN: I think it was interesting that -- given everything she went through, she's afraid of crashing in the helicopter. That got me sitting up and thinking, really? That's amazing.
SANCHEZ: That was the best. Speaking of that, I have been flying so much the last couple of days, I haven't seen what's going on, I couldn't get on Twitter today. So, tell me what's trending? What are people talking about out there?
BALDWIN: Speaking of flying, Sanchez, I got a story for you. I'm not the best flier, I'm going to be honest. The older I get, the less I love turbulence.
But imagine being in this plane. This is a nail-biting emergency landing. It's all captured -- of course, it's all on cell phone video. Let me take you back, this was Saturday night, Delta flight 4951. It was experiencing, shall we say, problems on its way from Atlanta to White Plains, New York.
So, imagine -- all of a sudden, these passengers hear this over the P.A. system. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brace for impact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heads down! Stay down! Heads down! Stay down! Heads down! Stay down!
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Yes, I think I would be applauding as well given the fact -- I don't know if you saw that there were sparks out the window.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: So, the pilots made this relatively uneventful landing at JFK International. Amazingly, no one was hurt. You see the sparks.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: That's because the wing of the plane was dragging upon impact to the runway. So, the guys who had the cell phone, taking this video, they were afraid, of course, the worst could happen, as they're looking at these sparks, what was it from? It was from the right rear landing gear, it wouldn't come down.
Here they were talking about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALESSANDRO ALBERO, SHOT EMERGENCY LANDING VIDEO: The first indication was while we were circling Westchester Airport, we circled for a good 20 minutes and we were joking around with each other saying, I don't know if he knows where the landing strip is, and then they made announcement on the loud speaker.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And what did they say in the announcement?
CHASE BENZENBERG, SHOT EMERGENCY LANDING VIDEO: They said we are going to be making an emergency landing. They didn't have really many details except that there was no landing gear. So, we are envisioning, you know, belly slide the whole way with sparks but they actually came out later and said that there were -- it's only the right rear landing gear that would not come down, so it would be hitting the wing, which is what actually happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Only the right rear landing gear, he says.
Now, here -- here is picture for you. This is obviously outside of the plane. This is, again, 4951 Delta flight, after it landed. And you can kind of see the plane -- can you tell it's sort of tilted to the right? That's -- remember, he said the right rear landing gear, that's what failed.
The FAA -- obviously, they're still looking into this. But they have no idea, you know, what exactly malfunctioned. Why that landing gear couldn't come down.
I'm telling you, Sanchez, if I saw sparks, I'd be white knuckles on my seat rest.
SANCHEZ: I'd holding that handset, have to take it off just one finger at a time by the time they got you.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Hey, there is a really ironic passing today. Take us through this next story because --
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- when I heard it in our editorial meeting this afternoon, I about fell out my chair.
BALDWIN: I know. It's one of those -- it's just -- it's odd coincidence, if we can call it that. The death of James -- he went by Jimmy Heselden. You probably don't know his name. But here's what you do know. You've heard of the company he owned, Segway Incorporated, as in Segways, as in those two-wheeled futuristic scooters -- here they are, you know, max speed. I looked into this. They only go 12 miles an hour.
But according to reports, here's the news, Heselden was found at the bottom of a 30-foot cliff in northern England Sunday and a Segway was found nearby. Here are pictures from the river he actually landed in, as did his Segway.
You know, and a lot of people are saying what happened? His family -- they've already come forward in saying in a statement there was absolutely nothing to suggest it was anything other than simply a tragic accident. But he was a former coal miner turned multimillionaire.
SANCHEZ: Good Lord.
BALDWIN: Apparently, he just bought the company in December from this New Hampshire-based group and he was 62. But it's just a sad --
SANCHEZ: So, you're telling me the guy who owned the Segway company died by falling of a cliff in a Segway?
BALDWIN: That's what I'm telling you.
SANCHEZ: That's what you're saying, right?
BALDWIN: That's what I'm telling you. That's what I'm telling you. It's sadly trending today. SANCHEZ: And one hell of an irony.
Thanks so much. We appreciate it there, Brooky.
BALDWIN: Thank you. Come home.
SANCHEZ: From Brooky, I'd be home tomorrow from Brooky to --
BALDWIN: The studio is so big and sad without you. Come home. I'll see you tomorrow.
SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks.
BALDWIN: Hey, from Brooky to Larry, he is standing by. Larry and I are hanging out together here in New York, New York. As a matter of fact, we were just chatting it up a little bit a while ago.
Larry, how got coming up tonight?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Welcome to the place of my birth. By the way, do you know when the Segway, the guy who invented it, they called that the invention of the millennium?
SANCHEZ: Really?
KING: It will relieve traffic congestion. Yes, millions of people were going to be seen going around on 'em.
SANCHEZ: Hasn't worked, has it?
KING: I don't know it worked that way.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Anyway. We got to turn (INAUDIBLE). We got -- Ann Coulter with us. She is not shy. And she has a showdown with Marc Lamont Hill, and we're going to mix it up over the Tea Party and Christine O'Donnell and Stephen Colbert and tax cuts and a lot more.
This is right meeting left. I will be the referee, striped shirt and whistle. It all starts at the top of the hour, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Oh, that's going to be fantastic. And you know what? Ann Coulter, she is all right in my book.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Good line. I get it. I get t.
SANCHEZ: And there will be more of that later as Rick and Larry continue. All right, Larry, thanks a lot. I'll catch up with you later.
All right. Your tweets have been keeping us extremely busy tonight but which one of you will win an autographed copy of my new book? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back.
I signed 300 books yesterday in Pittsburgh. Wow. Pittsburgh, PA. -- what an underrated city that is. The book giveaway is next and we are going to bring it to you.
Then Stephen Colbert found me making a mistake. I wonder if he ever makes mistakes. Hmm? Can you say list you don't want to be on?
By the way, we do have a winner in the book -- are we ready to announce that? Angie tell me in my ear, because I don't have tweets here to say, I'm sorry to say. Ah, thank you very much, guys.
From our Atlanta studio, we show you Pamela. She says, "I wish I could be there. I would love to have one of your books signed by you."
Oh, she's not referring to Pittsburgh. She is referring to our signing that we are doing in Atlanta at the CNN Center. That's Friday. She can't make it.
So, we said, you know what we will send you a box. There you go, Pamela. You are taken care of.
We will be right back with the Stephen Colbert story? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I was on the record last week defending Stephen Colbert. My exact words were, during our editorial meeting with my staff. And then later on the air, it took a comedian to show what a comedy of errors our politicians are when it comes to immigration legislation. I said that many times. I meant that.
And I realized while I was defending him, he was bashing me. OK. Let do the list you don't want to be on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: I have just been informed that I got my own endorsement from a major media figure, too. I'm so excited, who could it be? Jimmy?
SANCHEZ: Keep fear alive.
BALDWIN: Keep fear alive.
SANCHEZ: Here's what we're going to do.
BALDWIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: Let's start ignoring the other guy. I'm not even going to say his name and give all the emphasis to Stephen Colbert --
BALDWIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: -- because he is a true American. It's all about Colbert. We're not even going to talk about the other guy.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: Wow. Rick Sanchez. The coveted Sanchez bump. That could get me tens of supporters.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Oh. I can't believe.
COLBERT: Never became his trademark sign off.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: So, Rick, my friend, if you really want to help me get my Facebook total up, come to my march, stand on stage with me and let me tase you.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You got it, Esteban. Invitation accepted, on one condition, and here it is -- that you, Mr. Colbert, are willing to switch jobs with me for one day. I'll go in and I'll read jokes off the teleprompter for 15 minutes, as you do every day, Monday through Thursday. You come in here and you do the news for two hours live -- most of it, of course, without a teleprompter as the news comes in through this little thing right here. You know what this is? It is called an IFB, all right?
You can do that, right? I mean, of course, you can do that. You can go live. You are so talented.
Just -- in fact, I think last week you did this, right? You were live. You went to Congress. Do we have that? Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLBERT: I've got to ask, why isn't the government doing anything? Maybe this Ag jobs bill would help. I don't know. Like most members of Congress, I haven't read it. But maybe we could offer more visas to the immigrants who, let's fees it --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Let's fees it. Like, what, feces? Look, mistakes happen. So, what you do is just -- you probably know this -- you just go on. Whatever you do, you don't start over, all right? That's what my daughter does all the time. I'm always talking to her about that. And she is 9. Stephen, you make a mistake, you just keep going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLBERT: Maybe we could offer more visas to the immigrants, who, let's fees it -- maybe we could offer more visas to the immigrants who, let's face it, will probably be doing these jobs anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Stephen Colbert, great on tape, his new motto. He is the chosen one tonight on the list that you don't want to be on.
God, I wish I had a studio audience to laugh at that. Your move, sir.
We'll expect to be hearing some kind of reply. And if we don't, that's OK as well. Touche, as they say. And here now, my fave, Larry King and "LARRY KING LIVE."
